Chamber Day at the Capitol Speakers
Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth
Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth, husband to Kendall and father to Hunter, Hays, and Addie, is a small business owner and farmer from Marshall County. Prior to entering public service, he worked as a youth pastor at Albertville’s Grace Fellowship Church.
A co-founder of Dream Ranch hunting lodge and the Tennessee Valley Hunting and Fishing Expo, he currently owns Ainsworth Real Estate and Ainsworth Homes, which specialize in residential real estate construction and development. Ainsworth also operates a commercial cattle operation in Guntersville.
After feeling the call to serve his community through elected office, Ainsworth won a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives in 2014. While serving in the House, he was a champion for Pre-K, K-12, and higher education, passed election integrity legislation, and emphasized issues relating to business, agriculture, and family values.
Keeping a self-imposed legislative term limit promise, Ainsworth declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 2018 and received the most votes of any candidate for constitutional office on the general election ballot. He was elected to a second term without major party opposition in 2022.
During the 2023 legislative session, Ainsworth was the chief architect and proponent of the largest tax cut in Alabama history – a $300 million reduction in the state sales tax on groceries.
Ainsworth also lead the charge in renewing Alabama’s economic incentives, the Alabama Jobs Act and Growing Alabama, to ensure Alabama remains competitive in recruiting high-paying 21st century jobs.
Through the work of the Lieutenant Governor’s Commission on a 21st Century Workforce, he has focused on improving workforce development and training in order to recruit long-lasting, high-paying jobs to the state.
As chairman of the Alabama Small Business Commission, Ainsworth also works to promote policies that grow and expand both new and existing businesses – ranging from small, mom-and-pop operations to Alabama’s largest employers.
Ainsworth chairs the Alabama Military Stability Commission, which has passed dozens of bills in the Legislature to ensure Alabama remains the nation’s most welcoming state to active soldiers and veterans. His efforts on behalf of military members and their families earned Ainsworth the Pete Taylor Award from the U.S. Department of Defense.
He also served as national chair of the Aerospace States Association, a group of elected officials, academics, and private sector entities from states with ties to the aviation and spaceflight industries. Ainsworth has served as a strong advocate for Alabama’s aerospace industry, promoted STEM education in K-12 schools, and has pushed the Pentagon to maintain its commitment of placing U.S. Space Command Headquarters in Huntsville.
House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter
After a successful career in the electrical co-op industry and serving in various municipal government roles in his hometown of Rainsville, Alabama, Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 2014. He was later elected majority leader by the House Republican caucus in 2017 – making him the first-ever freshman member to hold this role.
As majority leader, Ledbetter was directed by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to find solutions to the state’s lingering mental health challenges. His work on the issue has resulted in a complete overhaul of Alabama’s crisis care system and historic investments into free and effective treatment for Alabamians in need, which remains one of his proudest accomplishments as a member of the Legislature.
In 2022, Ledbetter was unanimously elected as the 67th Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives. He’s leveraged his role as Speaker to provide historic tax cuts for the people of Alabama while also focusing heavily on growing the state’s economy and improving educational outcomes for students. Speaker Ledbetter’s biggest goal is to make Alabama the best possible place to live, work, and raise a family.
He is married to the former Teresa Wilks, they have two adult sons, Nick and Nathan, and four grandchildren. The Ledbetters are members of Broadway Baptist Church.
Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger
A small business owner with a lifelong commitment to serving others, Garlan Gudger was unanimously elected by his colleagues to as the President Pro Tempore of the Alabama Senate, a position that gives him tremendous influence over the day-to-day operations of the body.
First elected to the Cullman City Council in 2004, he became its youngest member in history and held a seat for 14 years, the last 10 of which saw him serve as president. After tornadoes tore through Cullman in 2011, Gudger was responsible for a facade and streetscape improvement program that was credited with revitalizing its downtown economic center.
After winning a seat representing portions of Cullman, Marion, and Winston counties in the Alabama State Senate in 2018, Gudger quickly established himself as a leader and earned the Economic Development Association of Alabama’s “Legislator of the Year” award for his efforts in passing a groundbreaking package of industrial recruitment and job creation measures.
He was also presented with the “Chairman’s Commendation” award by the Alabama Republican Party for passing a law that reflects his deeply conservative beliefs and requires “transgender” athletes in K-12 public schools to compete according to the sex listed on their original birth certificate.
Gudger and his wife, Heather, are the owners and operators of Southern Accents, an architectural salvage business founded by his father in 1969. Recognized as one of the top five architectural salvage companies in the nation, Alabama Magazine also awarded Southern Accents its “Best Antique Store in Alabama” honor for three consecutive years.
The Gudgers have two sons, Tripp and Pierce, and are members of Daystar Church, where they annually participate in mission trips to Uganda and other poverty-stricken areas around the world.
House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels
Anthony Daniels is a dedicated public servant who is proud to represent Alabama’s 53rd District in the Alabama House of Representatives, where he also serves as Minority Leader.
Since being elected to the Alabama Legislature in 2014, Daniels has been a strong advocate for education, healthcare access, criminal justice reform, and economic development initiatives. His ability to build consensus—among his caucus and across the aisle—and to advance legislation that strengthens Alabama’s economy, creates good-paying jobs, equity, and opportunity for all Alabamians, quickly earned him the respect of his colleagues.
In recognition of his hard work and dedication, Alabama House Democrats named him Legislator of the Year in 2015. In 2017, Daniels became the youngest Minority Leader in state history and the first African American to hold the position.
Under his leadership, House Democrats have successfully fought for an agenda that will build vibrant, innovative, and inclusive communities, put in place common sense tax policies that benefit workers and families, balance the needs of big and small business, and foster economic opportunity and entrepreneurship across the state. To advance this agenda and Alabama, Leader Daniels has relied heavily on bipartisanship, collaboration, and public-private partnerships.
Daniels serves on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Innovation Corporation—the first public-private and bipartisan entity in Alabama tasked with fostering Alabama's innovation economy. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Main Street Alabama, a group focused on revitalizing the economic and cultural centers of Alabama's many local communities. He was appointed by Republican Governor Kay Ivey to serve on the Alabama Pandemic Response and Preparedness Commission during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also a board member of the One Country Project, an organization focused on issues impacting rural America, as well as on the board’s of the Global Forum Advisory Council and State Legislative Leaders Foundation—organizations focused on preparing future leaders.
Prior to his career in public service, Anthony Daniels was a teacher. He grew up in the small town of Midway, Alabama, and graduated from Bullock County High School prior to earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in special education from Alabama A&M University. Together with his wife, Dr. Teneshia Daniels, he is a small business owner, and they have two daughters, Madison and Abigail, and a son, Anthony.
Senator Josh Carnley
Senator Josh Carnley was born and raised in Ino. He graduated from Kinston High School in 1997 and enrolled in Auburn University where he met his wife, the former Valerie Presley of Opp. The couple has three children: daughters Presley and Stella and son John Matthew. They all attend public school in Opp. Senator Carnley received an Agriculture Science degree from Auburn, which he uses daily on his farm producing cotton, peanuts, corn, and beef cattle. Senator Carnley is the Owner and President of SanBuck Insurance, with offices located in Andalusia, Enterprise, and Troy. He also is a Deacon at Ino Baptist Church, and is active with the Enterprise Rotarian and the ChocPea Yellow River Watershed Authority.
Governor Kay Ivey
Growing up in the small town of Camden in Wilcox County, Alabama, and working on her father’s farm, Kay Ivey was taught the value of hard work and living within one’s means. Her parents instilled the Alabama values of faith, family and community.
After graduating from Auburn University in 1967, Kay worked as a high school teacher and a bank officer. She served as Reading Clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives under Speaker Joseph C. McCorquodale and was Assistant Director of the Alabama Development Office, where she worked to spur job creation and economic development across the state.
In 2002, Kay became the first Republican elected State Treasurer since Reconstruction, and she was re-elected in 2006. As Treasurer, Kay was committed to making the office more open, transparent, and efficient. Kay was elected Lieutenant Governor in 2010, becoming the first Republican woman to hold the office in Alabama’s history.
She again made history on November 4, 2014, by becoming the first Republican Lieutenant Governor re-elected to the office.
Governor Ivey has been honored to receive numerous awards for her service to the state of Alabama, including the 2015 ALFA Service to Agriculture Award; Newsmax’s 50 Most Influential Female Republicans in the country; the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 2016 Public Service Award; and 2017 Citizen of the Year, by River Region Living Magazine. In September 2019, the Alabama-Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America distinguished Governor Ivey as a Golden Eagle for her ‘scout like service’ and being a trailblazer for women. In 2021, Governor Ivey was awarded the prestigious Army Aviation Order of St. Michael Knight Award. The American Village also presented the governor their highest honor, the Cornerstone of Liberty Award. Most recently, Governor Ivey was presented the inaugural Cognia STEM Champion Award and the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame Award.
On April 10, 2017, Governor Ivey was sworn in as the 54th Governor of the state of Alabama in the Old Senate Chamber in the Alabama State Capitol by Acting Chief Justice Lyn Stuart. Following a successful nineteen months in office, the people of Alabama made history again in November 2018 by electing Governor Ivey to a full term. She is the first Lieutenant Governor of Alabama elected to a full term after taking over as governor due to a vacancy in the Governor’s Office.
On January 14, 2019, Governor Ivey was officially sworn in for her full term by Associate Justice Will Sellers. Governor Ivey’s first term brought conservative leadership with effective results to make this generation more productive and the next generation more prosperous.
Governor Ivey was reelected to a second full term November 2022 in a landslide voting outcome, and she was sworn in January 16, 2023. Noting education, economic development, roads and bridges, broadband expansion, public safety and government reform as the top priorities of her second administration, Governor Ivey vowed to keep Alabama working, ensuring the state’s best days are yet to come.
She is a member of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery, the Montgomery Rotary Club and the Board of Directors of the Montgomery YMCA. Governor Ivey is also the first Girls State alumnus to be elected to an Alabama Constitutional Office.